Sunday, March 20, 2011

According to thebook, Terminology of Homosexuality, homosexual is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex or gender similar with the definition of Arthur S. Leonard (1997). As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual", affection or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same sex, it also refers to an individual’s sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of others who share them.

Homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation, along with bisexuality and heterosexuality, within the heterosexual-homosexual continum. The consensus of the behavioral and social sciences and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality is a normal and positive variation in human sexual orientation, though many religious societies, including Catholicism, Mormonism, and Islam, and some psychological associations, such as NARTH, have traditionally taught that homosexual activity is sinful or dysfunctional.

The most common adjectives in use are lesbian for women and gay for men, though gay can refer to either men or women. The number of people who identify as gay or lesbian and the proportion of people who have same-sex sexual experiences are difficult for researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons. In the modern West, according to major studies, 2% to 13% of the population are homosexual. A 2006 study suggested that 20% of the population anonymously reported some homosexual feelings, although relatively few participants in the study identified themselves as homosexual.